ESPN25

On September 7, 2004, ESPN celebrated its 25th anniversary. During the run-up to the anniversary, the network counted down the top sports moments of the last 25 years (the "ESPN era"). The list featured concentrated almost exclusively on moments involving Americans. Each Tuesday, a new 25-to-1 list was unveiled, as was the next headline in that 25-to-1 countdown. In addition, each day during SportsCenter, the next moment in the list of the top 100 moments of the ESPN era was shown. The celebration concluded by declaring the Miracle on Ice hockey game between the United States and the Soviet Union at the 1980 Olympics the #1 moment, game, and headline of the last 25 years.

20. (1986) Jack Nicklaus wins The Masters at age 46, the oldest champion in history. Nicklaus come back from 4 strokes down entering the day, and finishes eagle-birdie-birdie-par to win the tournament by one stroke.

18. (1982) Cal beats Stanford, 25–20, on the strength of a crazy kickoff return that has since become known simply as "The Play." With 4 seconds left, Stanford takes a 20–19 lead, and kicks off to Kevin Moen. The ball is lateraled to Richard Rodgers and then Dwight Garner, who is almost tackled, but passes it back to Rodgers, then Mariet Ford and back to Moen, as the Stanford Band, thinking they have won, marches onto the field. Moen dodges the band and scores the winning touchdown, steamrolling trombone player Gary Tyrrell in the end zone.

17. (1992) Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four. In overtime against Kentucky, the Blue Devils trail 101–100. Laettner makes two free throws to take the lead with 7.8 seconds left. Sean Woods converts a floater in the lane to give Kentucky a 103–102 lead with 2.1 seconds remaining. Grant Hill inbounds the ball the length of the court, and Laettner sinks a basket from the foul line as time expires, to win the game 104–103.

16. (2001) Barry Bonds breaks Mark McGwire's single-season home run record with his 71st home run. After McGwire moved the mark from 61 to 70, many thought his record would stand for decades, but just three seasons later, Bonds put together an incredible year. After 9/11 caused baseball to delay its season a week, Bonds hit his 71st and 72nd homers on October 5.

15. (1983) Lorenzo Charles dunks to win the NCAA Championship for underdog North Carolina State. Despite excellent play from the "Phi Slamma Jamma" duo of Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, heavily-favored Houston missed several free throws down the stretch, including one by Alvin Franklin with under a minute to play that would have given Houston the lead. The N.C. State Wolfpack passed the ball around to drain the clock and Dereck Whittenburg takes a shot with :02 left. It is an airball, but Charles jumps up and dunks it as time expires to win the title.

14. (1982) "The Catch": Joe Montana hits Dwight Clark to win the NFC Championship, on the way to a Super Bowl victory. The San Francisco 49ers trail the Dallas Cowboys 27–21, before Montana drives down into Dallas territory. With :58 to play, Montana is almost sacked, but throws the ball deep and high. Clark, in the back corner of the end zone, leaps and catches the ball, and the 49ers hang on to win 28–27.

12. (1985) Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's record of 4,191 hits. In his 23rd season in the major leagues, Rose is player-manager of the Cincinnati Reds. On September 11, in his first at-bat, Rose hits a ball to left-center field for the record-breaking hit. Of the 20-minute celebration that followed, Rose would later say, "It was the first time in my life I was on a baseball diamond and didn't know what to do."

11. (1995) O. J. Simpson is found not guilty on two counts of murder...
10. (1994) ...sixteen months after he is chased by police in his white Bronco. On June 13, 1994, Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman are found brutally murdered at her home. Four days later, Simpson is told to turn himself in, but does not, escaping with a friend and contemplating suicide. His friend Al Cowlings drives to Simpson's home, where Simpson sits in the car for an hour with a gun to his head. After surrendering, Simpson is charged with two counts of murder, and the "Trial of the Century" begins. More than a year later, the jury finds Simpson not guilty, but Simpson is later found liable in a civil proceeding.

9. (1984) Doug Flutie's "Hail Mary" pass to Gerard Phelan gives Boston College a 47–45 win over Miami on national television. Miami scored with :28 left to take a 45–41 lead and apparently win the game, but two passes put the ball on the Miami 48-yard line with six seconds remaining. Flutie launches a long pass that settles into Phelan's arms. Flutie, knocked down after he threw the ball, realizes the pass has been caught and runs down the field jumping and cheering.

8. (1996) Muhammad Ali opens the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. As is traditional, the last runner of the Olympic Torch Relay was kept secret until the Opening Ceremonies. As the torch is passed around Olympic Stadium, the final pass is made to Ali, suffering from Parkinson's syndrome. Shaking visibly, Ali lights a fuse that travels to the cauldron where the Olympic flame will rest for the duration of the Games.

7. (1991) Magic Johnson announces his retirement from the NBA, disclosing that he is HIV-positive.

1. (1980) The Miracle on Ice: An underdog US hockey team defeats the world-beating Soviet Union 4–3 in the medal round of the 1980 Winter Olympics. Team USA goes on to win the gold medal after defeating Finland 4–2 in its last medal round game.

The Headlines

ESPN also had a weekly series, "The Headlines", hosted by Bob Ley, counting down the top 25 stories since 1979, "stories that at some point jumped off the sports page, and onto the front page."

Miracle on Ice

O.J. Accused of Murder

Tiger Wins 1997 Masters

Magic is HIV Positive

Baseball Bans Pete Rose

McGwire and Sosa Chase Maris

Kobe Bryant Charged with Sexual Assault

Sept. 11 Attacks Shut Down Sports

Arthur Ashe Announces He Has AIDS

Bird and Magic Revitalize the NBA

Ripken Eclipses Gehrig

U.S. Boycotts Moscow Olympics

Strike Cancels World Series

Armstrong Wins Tour de France

Earnhardt Dies at Daytona

Bias Dies of Cocaine Overdose

Ben Johnson Stripped of Gold Medal

Venus & Serena Dominate Tennis

Tyson Convicted of Rape

U.S. Captures Women's World Cup

Kerrigan Attacked

Seles Attacked During Match

Indiana Fires Bob Knight

The Jordan Era Ends

The Dream Team

Who's #1?

Immediately following "The Headlines" (before "The Headlines" in the early portion of the summer), Stuart Scott hosted "Who's #1?", which counts down the top 25 of the last 25 years in some category. The #1 selection is shown below.